Mr Monk Goes Too Far
by Marie S Zachary
Summary: Monk has never had great social skills but one day he goes too far and really hurts Sharona down to the depths of her soul. How far will she go to fix the problem tha he created. Rated K for mention of character death


Disclaimer: I don't own Monk or Sharona. I don't clam too. This was the second story inspired by Bob Wright's MONKMAS. Okay I know that normally when I write Monk ((always when I write Monk/Trudy but normally when I write Monk with his friends too he's unselfish and loving. This time I'm sort of showing his faults))

Chapter 1

Adrian Monk was not a man of good social graces. He had often gotten in trouble with his friends because of that, especially Sharona. He could remember quite a few times where Sharona would either ignore him, which drove him crazy or even worse would make his life a living hell. He never meant to be hurtful towards her. It was just that he felt so out of control when things weren't going his way… and the only way he knew how to handle it was to retaliate.

Things with Sharona had gone from bad to worse after 12 year old Benjy was killed in a car accident. Sharona was depressed and moody which was understandable. In Monk's mind however it had been a year. She should get over it already. On the weekend before Benjy's birthday this all came to a head.

Sharona had accidentally destroyed the teddy bear that Trudy had won for Monk at the state fair. Now Monk felt the need to retaliate and it couldn't be just something she could ignore. She had to know what she did was wrong, didn't she? Sharona wore a pearl necklace that Benjy had gotten her for her birthday around her neck. Grabbing a Tupper-ware container so that the beads wouldn't spill he walked over to her.

"I'm sorry Sharona," he said softly, "but you have this coming"

In one swift move he pulled the necklace away from her and broke it. The pieces went into the Tupper-wear and Sharona looked like she had been shocked… very badly shocked. She sat down in the nearest chair and sobbed uncontrollably.

"S-Sharona," Monk asked hesitantly feeling terribly now, "come on it's just a necklace"

"Is it? You know Adrian you had done some things to hurt me before but I was always able to forgive you," Sharona said in between sobs, "but now you have really gone way too far."

"Sharona come on it's just a necklace"

"It's not just a necklace," Sharona said, "it's the last thing I had that was given to me by my son who is now GONE!"

"Sharona," he said weakly

"I forgave you for being insensitive to my feelings last year and for everything else you did but I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive for this"

"You got everything back last year"

He was referring to an incident from 7 months before Benjy died.

((.net/s/2516406/9/Have_a_Holly_Jolly_Monkmas)) this is similar to the event that happened

"You don't get it do you Adrian? I can never get my son back."

That being said she left the house. Now Adrian was the one left alone with his thoughts. He didn't know what to do. He thought he had done the right thing but now he could see that he was wrong. He needed to fix this.

He didn't know how to fix it but he knew someone who would be able to help. It was Dr. Kroger. He would be able to help Adrian figure out how to fix this. Adrian hated the word help because it made him feel helpless but at the time that's just what he was… helpless. He needed help.

Chapter 2

"So," Dr. Kroger began, "let me see if I have this right. She **accidentally **destroyed the bear that Trudy won you in a carnival?"

"Yes exactly," Monk replied straightening some pillows in Dr. Kroger's office.

"I see so you decided to 'punish' her by destroying the necklace that her son got her?"

"I felt like she had to know she did something wrong"

Dr. Kroger was quiet for a minute or two.

"Adrian the things that Sharona does are not done intentionally to hurt you. On the other hand, what you did was an act of vengeance. That is something you frequently do when you're uncomfortable with a person's behavior. The thing that you don't realize is that it's not just an annoyance… it's a- it's like a stabbing pain in the soul"

Monk shook his head.

"I KNOW I was wrong," he said, "but the last time I tried to handle her she just ignored me and did things to purposely make it clear she was pissed off. Why didn't she just ignore me instead of-"

"Adrian how did you feel when she acted insensitive towards you?"

"That was probably the 3rd worst week of my life," Monk replied, "until now"

Monk had said something completely out of line to Benjy. He had called him a filthy child. Well… after all he was dirty and Adrian was nothing if not honest. Sharona had told Adrian that because of his insensitivity she would only drive him where he **needed **to go, which was crime scenes, doctor's appointments etc but nothing else. Not only had she done that but she cut the wire from his television set, radio and everything else he enjoyed and refused to replace it until he had learned to treat people with respect.

"Can I ask you a question Doctor Kroger?"

"Of course"

"Why is it okay what she did to me but why is it not okay what I did to her?"

Dr. Kroger reflected for a few minutes before answering.

"What she did to you she did because you hurt her son's feelings but you did what you did because she expressed her feelings and they were feelings you didn't want to hear."

"She said something that wasn't nice," Monk reminded him

"She said something that wasn't nice after she had been made to feel like an outsider. She had been trying to tell you for a long time how she was feeling but you just pooh-poohed it. It was only after she challenged you that you responded the way you did."

"I couldn't even enforce it," Monk argued, "that's why I had to break the necklace this time. I had to show her that she was doing something-"

"Adrian what if someone had purposely destroyed the charm bracelet that Trudy had cherished so much and that means so much to you now. How would you feel?"

After 4 minutes of silence Adrian responded, "Distraught"

"Well my guess," Dr. Kroger said, "is that's how Sharona is feeling right now."

"What can I do," Adrian asked.

Dr. Kroger sighed.

"You're going to have to figure something out," he said, "I can't really tell you what to do. You'll know it though"

Chapter 3

For days Sharona just sat in her apartment. She could hardly eat. She couldn't sleep. She was devastated. On day 5 there was a knock at the door.

She got up to open the door and saw it was Adrian.

"What do you want," Sharona asked, "haven't you hurt me enough?"

"Sharona, I was wrong and I apologize"

"Sorry doesn't bring my son back"

"No and I wish it could but the truth is you won't see Benjy again for awhile"

Sharona shook her head.

"I will actually see him tonight," she told Adrian

A chill went through him. It was a cold shock.

"No Sharona you don't want to do that," he said, "I can't lose you too"

"GOD, are you always so selfish," she asked him

"Sharona listen to me," he said, "I got the pearls restrung for you"

"You did?"

She was still crying but less now. She had felt somewhat better

He handed them to her. It was exactly the way that it was before it broke.

"Could, could you put it on me?"

As he started to put it on her he spoke to her.

"Sharona," he said, "I am so sorry that I've been so insensitive to you.

"I would give anything to go back and correct my mistakes. I have no regrets about the early years," he continued, "and I think maybe that's why I'm so bad with emotions because I was so good with Trudy's emotions"

"Huh?"

"I feel like any form of gentleness towards someone besides Trudy would be betraying Trudy"

"Do you really think Trudy feels betrayed when she sees you treat someone with compassion and sensitivity?"

"No but I was afraid to. I think in a way I was sort of resentful of the tough times I went through in the past too"

"Resentful? Do you really mean feeling like you have no control in your life while other's do?"

"I resent that," Monk said, "not having any control"  
"Adrian," Sharona said, "I'm grateful to you for having brought my necklace back"

"It cost me $1,000 to restring," Monk said seriously, "but it was worth every penny"

"It was $1,000?"

"Well actually it was $995 but I insisted on making it an even $1,000"

For the first time in over a week Sharona smiled.


End file.
